It is the middle of summer. You are tacking up in eighty-nine degrees, your horse is already damp through the neck, and you are looking at your half pad wondering whether you are about to make the heat situation worse. It is a fair question — and one I get asked constantly once the thermometer climbs. The short answer is that material matters enormously, the long answer requires some nuance, and I am going to give you both.
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The two materials that dominate the half pad conversation are memory foam and sheepskin. Ogilvy Equestrian builds both. They also make a pad that combines them, which is either the obvious solution or overkill depending on what your horse actually needs. Let me break down what each material does when it gets hot, how it performs under saddle, and which horse profile belongs in which pad.
Quick Comparison: Sheepskin vs. Memory Foam in Summer
| Memory Foam Half Pad | Sheepskin Memory Foam Half Pad | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | from $125 | from $299 |
| Breathability | Moderate | High |
| Sweat management | Absorbs, holds heat if thick | Wicks actively |
| Pressure distribution | Excellent | Excellent |
| Bulk under saddle | Low | Moderate |
| Drying time | Fast | Longer |
| Best season | Year-round | Summer/show season |
| Best for | Even-backed horses, budget-conscious | Sensitive-skinned, heavy sweaters, horses prone to rubs |
The Memory Foam Half Pad: What It Actually Does in Heat
The Classic Jump Memory Foam Half Pad ($125) is the most straightforward half pad Ogilvy makes. Memory foam pockets distribute pressure evenly across the horse’s back — that is the core job. It conforms to the back’s shape, fills in small gaps between saddle and horse, and takes the edge off uneven contact.
In summer heat, memory foam performs reasonably well as long as you understand one thing: it is not actively cooling. The foam does not wick moisture. It does not pull sweat away from skin. What it does is stay thin enough that air can move between it and the horse if your pad underneath has any airflow at all. Stack it over a breathable baby pad and you have a workable summer setup. Sandwich it between a thick quilted pad and a close-contact saddle with no ventilation and you are creating a heat trap.
The pad dries quickly after a ride, which matters when you are riding twice a day or pulling the same pad out for the evening hack. You can hose the baby pad, give the memory foam half pad a wipe-down, and come back to dry equipment faster than you will with sheepskin.
Who this pad is right for in summer: horses with even, well-muscled backs who do not have skin sensitivity issues, riders who want low-profile cushion without a lot of added bulk, and anyone working with a tighter budget who still wants real pressure distribution. The Dressage Memory Foam Half Pad is the same concept in a longer dressage cut if you are riding on the flat.
Who it is not right for: horses who sweat heavily through the back and develop rubs, horses with skin sensitivities or a history of sores behind the shoulder, and horses doing multiple hard efforts per day in high humidity where accumulated sweat has nowhere to go.
The Sheepskin Memory Foam Half Pad: The Summer Premium Option
The Classic Jump Sheepskin Memory Foam Half Pad ($299) is a different animal. You get the same memory foam pressure distribution underneath, but the surface touching your horse is real sheepskin — and that changes everything when temperatures climb.
Sheepskin is thermoregulating. The fiber structure wicks moisture away from the horse’s skin and allows it to evaporate rather than pooling under the pad. In practice, what this means is that a horse who comes out of a long summer ride with sweat pooled and matted hair under a standard pad will come out with a drier back and less irritation under sheepskin. The difference is meaningful, not marginal.
The trade-off is maintenance and drying time. Sheepskin holds moisture longer than foam. After a hard session, a sheepskin pad needs real air circulation to dry — hanging it flat on a stall door or fence rather than tossing it on a saddle rack. It also needs more intentional cleaning. A quick wipe-down does not cut it the way it does with memory foam. If you are at a multi-day show and rotating one pad through two or three rides per day without good drying conditions, sheepskin becomes harder to manage.
The other honest trade-off is bulk. The sheepskin surface adds thickness. For most horses this is not an issue and the cushion is welcome. For a horse in a saddle that is already borderline tight through the panels, adding sheepskin thickness can tip the balance toward a poor fit. Always check your clearance before committing to any half pad change.
Who this pad is right for in summer: horses with skin that gets irritated under tack, heavy sweaters who come out of rides with matted and damp backs, horses who have had rubs or soreness in the past that correlates with sweating, and horses doing long or demanding work who would benefit from the thermoregulating surface. The Custom Jump Sheepskin Memory Foam Half Pad is the same pad with color and monogram customization if that matters to you for shows.
For dressage riders: the Classic Dressage Sheepskin Memory Foam Half Pad gives you the same sheepskin surface with a longer panel that works under a dressage saddle.
Ready to try the Sheepskin Memory Foam Half Pad? Use my link for my reader benefits at Ogilvy Equestrian → https://ogilvyequestrian.com/samanthabaer
The Sheepskin Quilted Half Pad: A Different Kind of Sheepskin Option
Worth naming because it comes up: the Classic Jump Sheepskin Quilted Half Pad ($299) gives you real sheepskin on the horse-facing side with a quilted cotton structure rather than memory foam pockets. The breathability and moisture management from the sheepskin surface are the same. The pressure distribution works differently — quilted construction is softer but less precise than memory foam at conforming to back shape.
If your horse’s primary summer problem is sweat and skin irritation rather than uneven pressure distribution, the quilted version is a reasonable alternative. If you have a horse with a back that needs contouring — slightly uneven musculature, a saddle that does not sit perfectly level — stay with the memory foam version. The foam does more of the correction work.
The Custom Jump Sheepskin Quilted Half Pad is available if you want to build out the color options for show season.
The Practical Summer Setup That Works
Here is what I actually use and recommend to people asking me this question at shows and on the podcast: a breathable baby pad as the base layer and the half pad matched to the horse’s skin and sweat profile, not just your budget.
The Classic Jump Baby Pad ($65) is thin, washes fast, and sits directly against the horse — which makes it the first line of sweat management. Pair it with the Memory Foam Half Pad if your horse is not a heavy sweater and has no skin sensitivity issues. Pair it with the Sheepskin Memory Foam Half Pad if your horse sweats hard, has shown any signs of back sensitivity, or if you are doing long days at summer shows where the cumulative wear on the horse’s back matters.
The performance gap between sheepskin and memory foam alone is real in summer. The gap between sheepskin and memory foam when you are riding a horse who sweats heavily and has sensitive skin is significant enough that the price difference ($125 vs. $299) makes sense in that context. Where it does not make sense is spending $299 on sheepskin for a horse who barely sweats, has no sensitivity issues, and is being ridden for thirty minutes three times a week.
Honest product recommendations mean telling you which horse needs which tool. If you have questions about what fits your horse’s specific situation — back shape, saddle fit, sweat patterns — I talk through this kind of thing regularly on the podcast if you want more depth on the fitting side.
One more note for anyone whose horse has a shimming need: if you are dealing with asymmetry or a saddle that fits eighty percent of the time, the sheepskin surface does not solve a fit problem. Look at the Classic Jump Sheepskin Shimmable Half Pad ($319) instead, which gives you the thermoregulating sheepskin surface plus the ability to add Memory Foam Inserts to correct an uneven panel. Breathability and correction in the same pad.
The material question matters in summer. But it matters in the context of your specific horse’s back, how much he sweats, and what your saddle fit situation actually is. Match the pad to the horse, not to what looks good on the rack.
Ready to find the right half pad for summer? Use my link for my reader benefits at Ogilvy Equestrian → https://ogilvyequestrian.com/samanthabaer
